Oil and gas industry now supports 8% of US economy

American Petroleum Institute (API) President, Jack Gerard, has released a new study from PwC US, demonstrating that the oil and natural gas industry supported 9.8 million American jobs in 2011.

This represents an increase of more than 600 000 jobs in just two years.

The study, which was commissioned by the API, examined the oil and natural gas industry’s economic contributions in 2011, an update to a previous report from 2009.

Findings indicate that the industry now supports 8% of the US economy, up from 7.7% in 2009.

The industry supports jobs in all 50 states however Texas remains America’s oil and natural gas leader. The industry supports nearly two million jobs in the state, making up 23% of the state’s economy.

California is second with nearly 800 000 jobs and approximately 7% of the state’s economy supported by the industry.

Louisiana follows with 400 000 jobs, and 35% of the state’s economy supported by the oil and natural gas industry.

‘Game-changing innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling are creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs every year’, Gerard said. ‘For the first time in generations, America’s path to true energy security seems clear, if we get our energy policy right today’.

‘We need Congress and the administration to unlock additional opportunities by expanding access to domestic energy resources, speeding up permitting, and ending the broken ethanol mandate’.

‘By doing so, we will create even more American jobs, grow our economy, protect consumers and take full advantage of our nation’s vast energy resources’.